floundersgreatadventure

There was another mass shooting yesterday in which 50 people died and 53 were injured. Almost immediately the press and politicians were looking where to place the blame. It was Christian conservatives, gay bashers, ISIS, President Obama and just about everybody else. Let’s say for a second that there all to blame what are we going to do about it. Donald Trump wants to build walls ban Muslims others want to ban guns. I’m sorry to say none of these will work. They might stop organized terror plots but they won’t stop the crazy guy next door. If we had done all of this it wouldn’t of stopped the Oklahoma bombing or any of the school shootings. School related shooting aren’t just the type of gun is. I think the real culprit here might be money. The huge amounts that gun manufactures make the lack of money for schools so that classes might be smaller and teachers might be better trained to recognize troubled kids. If you’re looking to ban something, don’t ban Bambi from TV ban gang members from school until they have proven the no longer are affiliated. You know the old argument about gun control “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. That might be true but that doesn’t mean we should allow military grade weapons into the hands of civilians. The most common being the AR15 and AK 47 both of which are readily available in most gun stores. Part of the problem was that at the end of the Viet Nam war there literally thousands of these weapons sitting in warehouse all over the world. These weapons are the one of choice because they are cheap and easy to convert to fully automatic. Now I’ve said this before weapons like these with 30, 50, or 100 round magazines are not for recreation or sport they are designed strictly to kill people. These weapons are available because they high profit and be sold at affordable prices. Now I now yesterday’s shooter had an AR15 and a semi automatic pistol. Whether they had high capacity magazines I don’t know nor had the rifle been converted to fully automatic. What I do know was the shooter was able to walk into a gun store a few days earlier and purchase these weapons. The government says the manufactures can’t be held responsible for mass shootings. My question is those that mean they can just dump those weapons out there and never have to worry about what they’re used for. Maybe if one of their families had been a victim they might feel different, I doubt it since they are just a bunch of greedy bastards. This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin, Colombia.

Well it’s springtime remember when all it meant was time to plant flowers, get the lawn mower out, head for the Trout stream, clean the barbeque, and start looking for that vacation spot. Well now it means college protests, pissed off farmers, and crazy people with guns running around killing people. And this year you have presidential primaries which have set race relations back fifty years. There’s a great anti war song by the Kinston trio and Peter, Paul and Mary called, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”. It seems the only thing people are interested in planting this spring is hatred and racism. Sad because spring is supposed to be a time of rebirth and instead we’re getting a season of destruction more in line with Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction”. Where did it go so terribly wrong? My belief is that after the Viet Nam War and Water Gate the American people just wanted to get on with their lives and sort of put on blinders to anything that might upset there peaceful existence. They were grateful all the credit that was around and they used it forgetting that they would have to pay it back. They believed that everything was just going to continue being rosy. They forgot one thing the people that were running everything were nothing more than a bunch of power hungry greedy bastards. When everything started to go downhill they wanted to blame somebody so those in power gave them a scapegoat illegal immigrants and programs like Affirmative Action. Forgetting the fact that the profit hungry corporate assholes were moving overseas to escape taxes and obtain access to cheap labor. Others imported Asians to the lucrative market and paid them less than Americans and blamed the Mexicans. Mexicans were willing to work as farm labors, dishwashers or anything else without the benefit of hospitalization or any other benefit. A major complaint was they worked for cash and didn’t pay taxes. Well here’s a flash either did their employers avoiding payroll taxes and increasing their profits. So the rich got richer and the rest of us kept looking for someone to blame other than the real culprits’ politicians and big business. Now we have race issues that have nothing to do with the middle class being screwed once again. We look around and see Donald Trump saying all these crazy things and think well he’s rich and powerful he must know what he’s talking about. And then there’s Hillary Clinton who people say is the most qualified to become President. What’s that mean she’s better at screwing the little guy and getting away with it. We had a legitimate dark horse candidate in Bernie Sanders but he made the mistake of allowing the word Socialism to be attached to his name and that was pretty much that, although he gave it a good run. Look people what I’m trying to say here in a long winded sort of way is you better start looking at yourselves and what you can do to fix the government instead of looking to blame everything and everybody else. This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin, Colombia.

You know I talk a lot about age in these posts I guess it’s because I’m getting old and so is Flounder. I turned 70 in January and Flounders had his birthday the end of May when he turned 16 that’s 80 in human years. So when I read about Mohamed Ali passing away I began to think how we take our living friend, relatives, or celebrities for granted and then when their gone we start to have regrets. Regrets about not seeing them or knowing how their health was or talking to them. I know I have a lot. When my brother died I regretted not talking to him more, the same applies to his wife my sister in –law. Now there is no time to say the things I want. With my mom I still want to pick up the phone and ask her advice about something or other but it’s too late. I wish I had been more of a better son to her but its too late. When my niece Kim passed away I thought we had many years ahead of us now I regret worry about other thing rather than getting on a plane and seeing her. She was so much younger than me I thought I had plenty of time but I was too late. You hear people talking about life being too short, don’t wait do it now and of course you wait thinking there’s plenty of time but there isn’t. So don’t wait pick up the phone, get in the car, get that flight find out what’s going on in their lives none of us is going to be here forever. Don’t be like me sad that you didn’t call or make an effort to see someone you care about. You know you’ll wonder what they would have said to your questions plus if it’s a relative they need to know that you’re proud of them as well as happy for them. Don’t wait till it’s too late. This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin, Colombia.

I’ve been asked by a very good friend if I could maybe post something a little humorist this week. Well first I went and looked up the definition of fun. Fun N. Something that provides mirth or amusement. Well those words seem to be the same as fun could it be that nobody really knows the definition of fun or is just what you think is funny. Well I went out and got some definitions and I think they’re funny so we’ll see. Number 1, Heaven- A place full of everything you got sent to hell for.
Number 2, Alcohol- A bitter fluid used to help white people dance.
Number 3, Vegetarian- Latin phrase, originally meaning “really bad hunter”
Number 4, Bacon- The reason you are not a Vegetarian.
Number 5, Vegan- A mass murderer of thousands of innocent fruits and vegetables.
Number 6, Slut- A woman with the morals of a man.
Number 7, Winter- A three month break between a woman and her razor.
Number 8, Sarcasm- The ability to insult idiots without them realizing it.
Number 9, Friend- One of many strangers on Facebook.
Number 10, Canadian – American who learned to diet and exercise.
Number 11, Sober- Son of a bitch everything is real.
Well I hope you found some of this humorous if not Tuff Shit, I did. This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin, Colombia.

Well I thought it would be nice to talk about age and I’ll use myself as an example. I’m 70 years old I was born after world war two ended so I’m considered a baby boomer. They tell you that the longer you live the more things you’ll see and that’s right. Like I’ve seen the Korean war, the TV, the Berlin wall go up and then come down, Cuba goes communist and then become our friend again. I’ve seen the Viet Nam war start to finish one of the most useless conflicts ever I’ve seen the end of Communism economic boom massive corruption. Man walking on the moon the twin towers falling, the invasion of Iraq another dumb war, the death of Ben Ladin, the rise of ISIS, and so much more. One thing they don’t tell you is that if you live long enough you experience loss. At 5 my dog Lucky got hit by a car and died at my feet. Later I had to leave my dog whizzer when I moved to NJ. My mom’s favorite cousin died then my mom’s mom. Then my great aunt Agnes at 21 I lost my father to Cancer. I saw people die in car accidents and wars. I lost my older brother to Cancer then his wife to Cancer as well my mom passed away and then the worst my younger niece died. Why is that the worse because she was so young and happy and enjoying life her father was young and just died and yet as mean and rotten as I am, I’m still here. Although all the crap that I did as a younger me is catching up to me now, I have a bad back arthritis in it as well as my shoulders. Some days it hurts to think about moving. But it’s like everything else in life there a Yin and then an Yang I wish I had been better prepared for the loss then maybe I would of enjoyed the happy time more and wouldn’t of been such an ass hole to people. This Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin, Colombia.

Well it’s Mother’s day and if I wrote about my mom there wouldn’t be enough room to say all the good things she did for me and everybody else in the family. My niece Kim who recently passed away probably missed my mom more than any other person who knew her. My mom had that effect on people. She could be your best friend or someone you didn’t want to mess with. She always saw the good in people never the bad seeing the bad was my job. I guess that’s why everybody says I’m a pessimist and don’t like people. I got my love of animals from my mom. She couldn’t stand to see an animal mistreated or injured. She didn’t like to handle wild animals that job fell to my brother or me. I still rescue wild animals mostly birds down here that either fly into our house or hit a window. One of the unfortunate things I learned from my mom was sarcasm. She was pro at using the English language to get somebody. I think sometimes her quick tongue came back to bite her in the ass. I know mine has, but I’m really not concerned about it. That was another thing my mom taught me be true to yourself if you said it own it. And for the most part I have. When I write about something say politics or religion these are my opinions not necessarily absolutes but things that I look at think that they make since wither they can be proved or not. My mom didn’t have an easy life my father wasn’t the easiest person to deal with as he got older and alcohol took control. He was a mean drunk while I was just a stupid drunk. There are a lot of things I could have done but for whatever the reason I just didn’t see a lot of the bad shit. Hey look at this I wasn’t going to write about my mom and I just did. She was my greatest fan always supporting me no matter what dumb thing I was about to do. If you guys out there are lucky enough to still have your mom make sure that you let her know not just on mother’s day but 365 days. We might like to believe they’ll be there forever but life doesn’t work that way what will stick around are the thing she taught and the person she helped you become. This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin, Colombia.

Well let’s try the Fracking story this week and see what happens. First what is Fracking? Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well. This process allows for the recovery of oil and gas that is not attainable threw conventional drilling. There is a great deal of controversy surrounding this process and its effects on the environment. There are claims that the various chemicals used damage the surrounding water table. This has been proven in many cases but not all it depends on who’s doing the research. One thing is true that the Fracking or fracturing of the shale that contains the gas and oil can and does cause earth quakes. This has been seen in Oklahoma in the US with a large increase in small earth quakes in areas where Fracking has take place. This is not a claim by hysterical citizens this has been proven. But the big companies claim that the benefits far out do the little earth shaking that goes on. Geologists warn however that the potential for larger more destructive earth quakes is growing do to the Fracking. Fracking is another case of the big oil and gas companies refusing to accept the possibility that renewable sources such as wind and solar power might be the way to go. It’s sad that environmentalists are seen as tree hugging quacks rather than actual scientists concerned with our survival. Remember no matter what new techniques oil companies come up with there is not and I repeat NOT a unlimited supply left in the ground. Some say as little as thirty years worth others say less or more after reading all that I have read I would say that a forty years at our continued usage would see us rationing our supple and invading anybody who had oil. But getting back to Fracking from what I see and read it’s a dangerous practice with little upside and plenty of downside especially when if they took that money and spent it on alternative power sources we could quite possible eliminate our dependency un renewable fossil fuels. This is Flounder say CIAO from Medellin, Colombia. Where we have the problem and question’s you have in the US concerning Fracking.

Originally I was going to post about Fracking and its effects on the environment but after reading the news this morning I need to talk about the climate of violence. When I grew in East Orange New Jersey there was no gun registration for rifles or shotguns. My 22 was bought in Sears by my father and I use to carry it in its box on the bus when I went to rifle team practice at the Y. Later I bought shotguns from friends or the local sporting goods store. No problem no registration. But back then we didn’t have school shootings or drive by’s, even the mob had figured out that gun play was bad for business. Were there fights after school sure bats and chains were used but nobody brought a gun. Today it supposed to be harder to get a gun yet it’s more like the 1930’s with police being targeted and innocent kids getting shoot by some kid that didn’t like the way they looked at them or whose parents didn’t appreciate them. Remember I’m 70 years old if you didn’t do what your old man wanted or did it wrong you would probably get a beating. But now Dr Spock and other child shrinks tell you that just encourages bad behavior in the future. I’m not going to debate corporal punishment one way or the other. It just seems to me that whatever parents are doing today one thing there not is preparing them to deal with stress or the local bully. I had two boys that bullied me when I was in high school and I listened to my mom don’t fight just ignore. Well I did that for a long time then one day I just kicked the shit out of them and nobody bothered me again. I know today with the internet it’s more of a psychological type of bulling then physical and that is probably much worse. But still I think teaching kids how to stand up to this is better than letting it go on until somebody decides to go and get daddy’s gun and kill a few people. They say they teach educators to look for signs in the kids so this doesn’t happen. Well that doesn’t seem to be working to well I mean you teach maybe 5 classes or more a day and even at a small size say 25 that’s still a 125 kids a day and you can’t possible know what’s going on in all their minds. Look the point of this post is that something’s definitely wrong with all of society right now and I don’t know where to start to correct it and there are millions of opinions out there and nobody knows which is right. One thing I’m sure of is that things didn’t get better as I get older they only got worse. This Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin, Colombia.

Today I watched the movie about flight 93. For those of you who might not know flight 93 was hijacked on 9/11 its presumed targets were the White house or the Capital building, but the passengers and crew caused the plane to crash in Pennsylvania. I actually heard someone ask, why didn’t the other passengers, on the other flights do something to stop the attacks were they afraid. I’m sure they were afraid but they didn’t know three other planes had crashed into buildings. The people on flight 93 were aware that they most likely going to die and so would maybe would America. They decided to try and stop the hijacking knowing full well some if not all aboard would die in the attempt. They were the exceptional heroes of that day. Yes many police and fireman died that day doing their jobs which was to protect and save people. The passengers of flight 93 had no such job they were going someplace on business or for vacation they never expected to have to put their lives in jeopardy so many others might live. Now I’m not saying that the fire fighters and police weren’t just as brave I mean it takes a special kind of person to run into burning buildings. Many people stepped up to the plate that day it’s one of the things that makes America what it is Home of the Brave and land of the Free. Other countries might be looking at America right thinkin we’re weak and divided because of all the political bullshit. But they better hear me if they think they can attack us because if they do they will find a will and a spirit that will drive them back to wherever they came from. This is Flounder saluting all of Americas heroes from Medellin, Colombia.

Well I’m sitting here listing to a little Skynard and writing about one of favorite topics Automation. When I turned 21 and my dad died my Stepbrother Jimmy who was never one of my favorite people comes to me and says Jeff it’s time you stopped screwing around and got a real job. You should get into human resources although I don’t think they called it that back then. I asked why and he said automation is coming and we’re going to have to do something with the people. Now I didn’t really understand that then but now I do. When I worked as a temp for the post office they were just beginning the process of automation where on machine in a sorting center could so the work of 8 people. Well if you take that number it means that seven people ain’t got a job anymore. They’ve done in the car industry where whole assembly lines that used to employ maybe a hundred men were replaced by robots and maybe one supervisor. Speaking of robots did you see where they have them playing soccer now. If that happens, what are we supposed to do with the millions of kids and the few overpaid spoiled pros now? Automation is supposed to be a good thing allowing companies to manufacture more cheaply and thus reduce the cost to the consumer (LOL). But what it also does is use less people so how are they supposed to make money to buy those products. And they want a military of robot soldiers and drone aircraft. Sure that will save lives, but it will also make war more palpable to the masses if they don’t have to worry about their kids getting killed. I’m not some old crazy guy that thinks technology is the second coming of Satan but if it’s not used wisely it won’t improve our live it will destroy them. This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin, Colombia.